Ihsan Abdel Kouddous: A Virtual Discussion

Join us for a special virtual book discussion, Co-sponsored by Stanford University Press. Featuring Jonathan Smolin, Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at Dartmouth College and translator of I Do Not Sleep and A Nose and Three Eyes,  in conversation with Sharif Abdel Kouddous, independent journalist and grandson of Ihsan Abdel Kouddous.

The discussion will be moderated by Gretchen McCullough, fiction writer, literary critic, and senior instructor at The American University in Cairo.

The discussion will explore Ihsan Abdel Kouddous's life, works, and politics, focusing on the first of his novels translated into English by Jonathan Smolin— A Nose and Three Eyes and I Do Not Sleep —both published by AUC Press under its fiction imprint, Hoopoe. The event will also explore Jonathan Smolin's latest book, The Politics of Melodrama: The Cultural and Political Lives of Ihsan Abdel Kouddous and Gamal Abdel Nasser,  published by Stanford University Press.

 

Ihsan Abdel Kouddous (Author, 1919–1990)  is one of the twentieth century's most prolific and popular writers of Arabic fiction. Born in Cairo, Egypt, Abdel Kouddous graduated from law school in 1942 but left his law practice to pursue a long and successful career in journalism. He was an editor at the daily Al-Akhbar and the weekly Rose al-Yusuf and was editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram. The author of dozens of books, his controversial writings and political views landed him in jail more than once.

Don’t miss this engaging discussion on Zoom meeting.  Streamed live on the AUC Press Facebook page.